Inside the Star

Leave abortion alone

Unlike in the American election this year, abortion did not make it onto the political agenda in the Canadian campaign. For good reason. In the two decades since our Supreme Court struck down our anti-abortion laws, a consensus has emerged here that abortion ought to be a matter between a woman and her doctor, not a political football.

Unlike in the American election this year, abortion did not make it onto the political agenda in the Canadian campaign. For good reason. In the two decades since our Supreme Court struck down our anti-abortion laws, a consensus has emerged here that abortion ought to be a matter between a woman and her doctor, not a political football.

But a group of MPs seeks to change the status quo. By forming a "pro-life caucus," they hope to put the issue back on the national political agenda, apparently by focusing on late-term abortions. "We need to have a starting point of debating whether or not abortion should be legal right up until the moment of birth," said the caucus chair, Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge (Winnipeg South), in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Bruinooge, heretofore best known for launching an Internet game called "The Stone,'' said the pro-life caucus includes members of all parties. He would not produce a list of names. But Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada says that a majority of the Conservative MPs are "publicly anti-choice." And many Liberals MPs are known to be in the same camp.

Despite their numbers, the pro-life caucus is unlikely to have much of an impact.

A similar group – calling itself the "family values caucus" – was formed at Queen's Park in the late 1990s but failed abysmally to get its issues on the agenda of the day. That's because then premier Mike Harris wanted nothing to do with them.

Similarly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said before that he was uninterested in reopening the abortion issue. Now, with an economic crisis on his hands, Harper has even more reason to avoid such a distraction.

The abortion debate is over in Canada. Move on.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.